I purchased the DV-57A-S from Crutchfield (excellent service) about a month and a half ago, and was generally very happy with it. As a straight DVD player, it has an excellent picture. I didn't notice any alliasing or mosquito noise as usually happens on many less expensive DVD players.

The plus side of the ledger is certainly worth noting! First, is that when using the 5.1 analog outputs with DVD's you can avoid missing the first couple of seconds of missed dialog when a movie is re-started after being stopped or paused. This usually occurs on the digital outputs as the amp/receiver tries to figure out what signal is being passed on to it.

Also a major plus is the availability of distance compensation and bass management for DVD's as well as DVD-Audio and SACD's. If you are buying this for DVD-Audio and SACD, don't underestimate the need for this. The new "universal players" from Toshiba and Samsung don't offer any form of distance compensation on these audio formats. So unless your listening room is perfect and all your speakers are the same distance to where you listen, you will need this in order to get the most out of high resolution audio.

The remote control is kind of basic, with no back-lighting. I does work well, and is layed out in a logical manner. Nothing special here, but better than most.

Another definite plus is that I cannot tell the difference in picture or audio quality when compared to my Pioneer Elite DV-45, which cost almost 3 times as much.

On the negative side, I'm a little suspicious of the quality of this Pioneer player and all Pioneer DVD players. After only one month, when playing either SACD or DVD-Audio, the player started sending a loud hum through the outputs during louder passages in music. After the first time, I did a re-start and that cleared the problem up. When it happened the second time, it became permanent, and I had to send the player back for a different one. I don't feel this is an isolated incident and feel that Pioneer ought to pay a little more attention to quality assurance and testing. My case in point is my DV-563-A (same player, but last year's model) does this after playing for a couple of hours, but stops after it cools down, and my Pioneer Elite DV-45 has lost it's center speaker output in SACD.

My conclusion is that the DV-578A is an incredible bargain, as they have been selling for under $150. It's miles ahead of the similarly priced Samsung and Toshiba models, especially if you're an audiophile on a budget. Just hope you don't get a lemon, and make sure you buy from a company that gives you at least a 30 day refund or exchange policy. I would also suggest that you get an extended warranty if available.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 150